Colors of the Heart
by Sapphire X Dreams
Summary: Ever since he left, Sakura has had the desire to get Sasuke back. After seeking help from the Akatsuki to learn Orochimaru's whereabouts, she finds herself uncovering secrets of the group, as well as making a deal where Naruto's life is on the line. Akatsuki x Sakura
1. Red as Blood

**Author's Note: I got this idea last night but had no time to write it. I'm not exactly sure how the entire thing will play out. (haven't really written out every single detail of the story yet). So I MAY ask for some suggestions if that's all right. **

**Story Time: This story takes place in Shippuuden (that's mentioned). It's before (SPOILER) Sasuke kills Itachi, but before Sakura fights Sasori. Anyway, enjoy! **

_**Chapter 1: Red as Blood**_

The day was sunny. Most of the days in Konoha were. They left the people of Konoha with no cares in the world. But on such a beautiful day, there were some people who had dark thoughts on their minds. Sakura Haruno was one of them.

Her thoughts weren't rotten to the core, but she was prepared to become a rogue ninja.

The rose-haired girl was in her room packing things inside a backpack that sat atop her bed.

_"Am I really doing this? All on my own?" _Sakura thought to herself silently. _"I might actually _**die**_ going on this mission. And I.... I'll never see anyone ever again. Not even Sasuke. Or Naruto. Or Kakashi-sensei. And I'll be known as a rogue ninja." _

Sakura bit her lip thinking of the risk she was taking. She picked up a Leaf village headband with a scar crossing out the symbol. The headband was obviously Sasuke's.

The kunoichi shook her head. _"I'll be alright. I've got medical ninjutsu and my strength." _The girl reached for a bag of soldier pills that she placed in her back pouch.

_"Alright." _Sakura nodded to herself and then headed out the door.

It didn't take her long until she reached the path that lead out of the village. Sakura looked over at the bench to her right.

_"So many rich memories." _Sakura smiled as she silently recalled the memories one by one. When she and Sasuke almost kissed, (really Naruto) where Sasuke had scolded her, and where she and Sasuke had said their last goodbye.

"I'm going to turn those memories into reality again." Sakura told herself with confidence. "I'm going to bring Sasuke back!" She stopped for a while thinking to herself how exactly she was going to do that.

"By talking to the Akatsuki. They know something about Orochimaru, I'll have to get them to tell me." Sakura answered her own question aloud.

Sakura wasn't the type of person to wait and see what happened. She usually liked to plan things out, including every single detail. This time, the possibilities were unpredictable.

* * *

It wasn't long until Sakura arrived at a forest like place. She didn't waste any time and had actually left the village in less than five hours. She had plenty of soldier pills left, and she hadn't used any of her chakra yet. (save, a tiny bit for tree-jumping)

The kunoichi jumped from a tree and proceeded to walking. As she did, she heard rustling in the bushes.

The girl stopped dead in her tracks and took out a kunai. The girl stood at attention, waiting for whatever it was to attack. Nothing came.

The girl lowered the weapon but didn't put it away. Suddenly, out from the bushes came a storm of shuriken. She had nowhere to run.

Sakura fell to her knees knocked out cold. But before her eyes closed completely, she saw the pile of crimson blood that had dripped out of her stomach, and a certain Uchiha standing in front of her. And the Uchiha wasn't Sasuke.


	2. White and Black:Light Hidden By Darkness

**I'd like to thank ****Ink'd Fairy Wings **** and ****fixingxlove**** for reviewing this story. You really made me feel awesome with your reviews!! Thanks a million!! **

**Author's Note: This chapter includes some spoilers for Itachi. And there's a little love going on between Sakura and Itachi. ItaSaku in this chapter!!! (sorry it's so short though)**

_**Chapter 2: White and Black: Light Hidden By Darkness**_

_**Sakura looked up and around at everything. She was plunged in eternal darkness all around her. Cold, eternal, and lonely darkness. **_

_**At that moment, Sakura realized she wasn't absolutely alone. Someone was soon standing in front of her. Her old teammate, Sasuke. **_

_**He turned around to leave. **_

_**"No, Sasuke! Don't leave me!" Sakura ran after the Uchiha, but it seemed as if the faster she ran, the father she got away from him. Sasuke completely disappeared into the darkness, leaving Sakura. **_

_**Alone once more....**_

x_**X**__x_

Sakura woke up gasping and panting hard. She looked at everything around her and noticed she was in darkness again. Alone. Just like the dream she had just had.

She was sitting in a bed, and she saw that almost her whole body was wrapped up. "What's going on?" Sakura soliloquized. Suddenly, in the other corner of the room, she finally noticed someone was there.

An Uchiha. A huge grin spread across Sakura's face. She was about to greet her old teammate when the memories of hours before came back to her.

This wasn't Sasuke, it was his brother... Itachi. "Uchiha.... Itachi...?" Sakura's stammered in a low voice. She tightened her fist and prepared to fight.

"Haruno Sakura... was it?" The Uchiha responded in the darkness. "I entrust you with this secret."

Sakura's eyes widened and she loosened her fist. "Wha-what is it?" Sakura asked slowly, butterflies bursting in her stomach.

"I'm on Konoha's side. I'm not against you. I want you to know that." Itachi reached over to Sakura and pecked her gently on the lips.


	3. Pink Blush

_**Chapter Three: Pink Blush**_

_**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating in a while. Christmas fics were taking up most of my time. **_

Sakura's cheeks turned bright pink as she stared at the Uchiha. Her eyes widened a little. This was an enemy that was kissing her! Well, he claimed he wasn't now. Sakura's tongue ran across her lips slowly.

A sweet, fruity taste hit her taste buds.

Her frigid fingers caressed her bottom lip for a few seconds. Then, the pink-haired girl looked up at Itachi. "A-are you really on Konoha's side?" Sakura stammered lowering her fingers. However, the shinobi didn't answer. Sakura tried a different question.

"Where are we? And... why did you attack me?" Itachi turned around to the kunoichi. "We're in the River Country." Sakura was a little surprised at that. She knew that the Akatsuki base resided there. In fact, that _was _where she was heading all along.

"As for why I attacked you, I was ordered to make a deal with you." Sakura's ears perked up. "I'm listening." The girl pressured Itachi to continue. "You're looking for clues about Sasuke's whereabouts, correct?" Sakura was shocked at how much this man knew. But she reluctantly nodded her head in agreement.

"I was ordered to give you information about Orochimaru, _if_-" The man's voice trailed off. The emerald-eye girl waited for him to continue.

"If you hand over the Kyuubi jinchuuriki."

Sakura's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. No way was she going to hand Naruto over to them! But... if she didn't, she'd never get any information on Sasuke, and he'd never come back to her.

"If you really are an ally of Konoha, you wouldn't be trying to capture Naruto." Sakura blurted out to the Uchiha. His face still bore the impassive look.

"True," the man finally spoke up again. "But, I'm a spy for the Akatsuki. Therefore, I must do as they tell me." Sakura's face fell as she looked down at her bandaged arms. "But... there's gotta be something else I can do..." The girl's voice trailed off as she looked into Itachi's eyes.

The Uchiha stayed quiet for a while. He thought about what the girl was saying to him. Finally, his shoulders fell. "I'll have to ask the leader."

Sakura's eyes lowered. She bit her lip trying to think of the situation she had gotten herself into. "Alright, let's go." Sakura replied after closing her eyes and thinking it all over. Once her eyes opened again, she surveyed the dark room closely.

Draped over a chair, she could see her crimson shirt and rosy skort. Blush overtook her face once more. Had Itachi actually taken off her clothes when she was unconscious?!

Still blushing furiously, the girl slid off of the bed. However, before she could move another step, her legs went limp and she began falling forward. Inches before she hit the ground, a hand caught her.

Sakura looked up at Itachi smiling sweetly at her. By then, it was decided that Sakura would be carried bridal style all the way to the Akatsuki base.


	4. The Orange of the Sunset

_**Chapter Four: The Orange of the Sunset**_

Hand over Naruto, to the Akatsuki? It was way too crazy. She had never bargained for this, she only wanted Sasuke back! Back in her arms. Sakura turned the deal over and over in her head. And she tried desperately to change it or to erase what Itachi had said. Evidently, it didn't work.

Sakura tried her best not to look at Itachi as they walked. He continued to sneak small glances at her and he noticed her discouraged face.

"Are you alright?" The Uchiha asked after a while. Sakura was startled at the sound of a voice at first. She quickly calmed down and gave the red-eyed man a weak smile. "I-I'm fine," Sakura replied, looking away.

The Uchiha simply nodded and Sakura was left to curse and scold herself. She _couldn't_ converse with him! That was just strengthen their relationship. She did _not_ want that to happen. But he _did_ look unbelievably like Sasuke, and Sasuke was still very cute.

Sakura cursed herself once more and shook her head as if to shake off the thought. Suddenly, she felt herself dropping downward a bit. Opening her emerald eyes, Sakura noticed she and Itachi were at a river. "We're taking a break," the male told her setting her down gently.

The pink-haired girl's eyes lowered as she watched Itachi walk off. He was probably looking for some herbs or something. At that moment, the ideal idea hit Sakura in the head like a sack of bricks. Why didn't she high-tail her ass out of there when she wasn't under Itachi's watchful eyes?

Sakura jumped to her feet (albeit a little wobbly) and ignoring the yelps of pain she was getting from her poor legs, she began limping out of there as fast as she could. In just a mere amount of unsteady steps, Sakura was panting and had to stop. However, when she did, she pitched forward. Unable to hide the scream that was dying to escape, Sakura brought both arms in front of her to cushion her fall.

She met the ground at an uncomfortable speed causing several bloody scratches to appear on her arms, legs, and face. Immediately, she felt eyes on her. Her face flushed; she felt like such an idiot, and all plans of escape where useless now.

Itachi walked over to her side and helped her up. "What were you trying to do?" Itachi asked, however, he already knew the answer. It was a nugatory question really.

Sakura bit her lip but didn't answer. Her inner self cussed and spat out words that obviously didn't make Sakura's outer self feel any better. The words, 'bitch' and 'idiot' were among them.

Itachi helped Sakura hobble over to a rock so she could sit. There, he changed the bandages and washed her fresh and new wounds. Finally, Sakura just had to speak. "U-Uchiha-san?"

Itachi looked up a bit bemused. "Hn?"

"Even if you are an ally of Konoha... why are you doing all of this for me?" There was a long and very painful silence as Sakura stared at the ground wishing she had never asked the stupid question.

Itachi opened his mouth but said nothing. "What do you mean?" The scarlet-eyed man asked finally. "You barely even know me. And..." Her voice trailed off, and she left the sentence in the air. Blush overtook her face as she turned away from his steely gaze.

"N-never mind... I-Itachi-san." Sakura noticed the sun was setting already. It seemed as if it had been noon only a while ago, but she didn't care. Itachi picked her back up and they continued their walk off to the Akatsuki base.

"I-Itachi-san?" Sakura looked down at the ground. "Who are the other members of the Akatsuki?" Itachi stared at the rose-haired girl for a second. He was a bit hesitate giving out this information, but on the other hand, he _was_ an ally of _Konoha_ not the Akatsuki. Well, he did have to act like he was.

"Well, there's Kakuzu, Konan, Hidan, Kisame, Deidara, Pein, Zetsu, Sasori, and..." Sakura stared at Itachi waiting for him to continue. She could tell the sentence wasn't finished. "And...?" She urged.

"Uchiha... Madara."


	5. Icy Sapphire Eyes

_**Chapter Five: Icy Sapphire Eyes**_

**Tee hee, I love reviews! Thank you Uchiha Sakima, Archer Ri-chan (aka GA-grl), Yuuri Yotsuki, and ****2014mw ****for reviewing!! This chapter will include slight DeiSaku.**

There was nothing she could but suffer in silence as she wondered who exactly Madara Uchiha was. Who? What? How? She had always figured that when they said that _all_ of the Uchiha clan had been eradicated, they meant _all_ of the Uchiha. Save for Itachi and Sasuke, of course.

Sakura had clasped her mouth shut after that and decided to rest. She woke up, not knowing that she had fallen asleep, with a start. Itachi, of course, hadn't dropped her, but she felt the presence of someone's eyes on her. As a kunoichi, she of course knew how that felt. Even so, she kept her eyes screwed tight. The sudden sound of Itachi's voice made her also jump.

"Deidara... Please get out of her face."

Sakura's eyes flew open and she could only let out a gasp when she saw an ice-colored eye staring at her curiously. This must be Deidara...

Itachi gave the blonde a stern frown. "Deidara, please get out of her face." With that, said blonde pulled away with a scowl of his own. "What are you, her owner, hm?" He didn't wait for Itachi's answer, and instead turned towards Sakura again.

"What's your..." His voice trailed off dead. His hand had hovered around the left side of his face; he was fumbling with something under his long bangs. "Itachi, you bastard. Why the hell did you bring a _Konoha_ ninja here, hm?"

Again, he didn't give Itachi a second to answer.

"Were you lonely?" he teased, a playfully evil smirk spreading across his face. But it was quickly washed away and replaced with a frown. "And why are you carrying her like that?"

Itachi gave him a and-how-do-you-expect-me-to-carry-her-like look. Deidara just shrugged in response and turned back to Sakura. "What's your name?"

Sakura frowned, feeling a little offended. Sasuke had taught her it was common courtesy to say your own name first... Even if she already knew his name, but still. She just sat back and didn't answer, much to Deidara's anger.

He scowled and proceeded to lightly poke her shoulder. "Does she talk at all, hm?"

Sakura wriggled and squirmed in a vain attempt to get her shoulder away. However, it was honestly her fault because of her struggling when Deidara's finger missed her shoulder and poked her breast instead.

And that was how Deidara ended up on the ground a while later, nursing a bruised cheek. "Ow. What the hell?" Itachi just sighed in response, holding Sakura back without any effort wasted.

"How dare you!" Sakura shrieked, and Deidara looked up at her, with an almost hurt expression on his face. "So you _do_ talk, hm."

Noticing she had broke her barrier of silence, she stopped screaming and shouting and stood still. Deidara turned back to Itachi. "Why did you bring a Konoha-nin here, hm?"

Itachi was about to slap Deidara for being unaware that he hadn't heard the leader's orders to capture the Konoha nin, but in the blonde's defense, he had been on a mission with Sasori. He had the streaks of dirt on his face to prove it. He must have only come back a while ago.

"Sakura-chan is going to hand the Kyuubi-Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto-kun, over to the organization.

Sakura was appalled; she had never agreed to any such thing! Besides, Itachi had said that he would talk to the leader about the situation. Deidara, however, was all smiles (it was more of a smirk, though). "Sakura..." He went over the name a few times mentally.

"Sakura is going to help us, hm?" He glanced at Sakura, and then frowned at her Leaf headband. Without another word, he stood to his feet and began to walk off. "Who was that, Itachi-san?" Sakura asked, looking up at the Uchiha.

He didn't answer for a while, and Sakura was afraid he hadn't heard her. "That's Deidara. He's a prodigy from Iwagakure." The pink-haired girl nodded. "And what exactly does 'hm' mean?" Sakura asked, trying her best to mimic the so-called word Deidara ended most, if not all sentences with.

Itachi just shook his head. "I have no earthly clue." She waited awhile before bothering Itachi again. "May I go talk to him?"

"If by talk to him you mean apologize." Itachi deadpanned. He looked almost tired. "But he was the one who--" Sakura cut herself off with a sigh and then nodded. With that, she sauntered down the empty hallway, as Itachi turned to go talk to the leader about the situation at hand.

_~X~X~ _

It wasn't that hard to find Deidara's room. Okay, yeah it was. It took Sakura nearly an hour and a half of searching through the dark rooms to find the explosives expert. She finally found him in a room that was rather dark with plenty of clay sculptures everywhere. He was sitting on his bed making yet another one of his creations, but noticed immediately when the door creaked even a little bit.

"Hidan, if you're still hellbent on proving I'm female, forget it. I'm not get pantsed again, hm." That sentence alone got Sakura wondering what the hell happened in the Akatsuki. When the door continued to open, Deidara finally looked up to see Sakura.

He immediately shot her a glare that could melt bricks. "I... just wanted to say I'm sorry for... hitting you, Deidara-kun." Sakura managed, through gritted teeth. Her eyes danced over repeatedly to the purple and black bruise on his cheek.

Deidara gave her a suspicious look, and Sakura finally got a bit fed up with all of this. She walked over to him and sat on the edge of his bed. "What are you making?"

That simple sentence changed everything.

Deidara's face practically lit up. "Just a few butterflies, spiders, birds, animals like that, hm."

And with that, the mouths on the artist's hands spit out a few clay animals. They fluttered out the window into the sun and exploded. Sakura stared in awe at the explosion, but Deidara just looked on, a frown pulling at his lips.

The emerald-eyed girl didn't notice this, though. "What do you like best about your, uh, art?" Sakura asked, trying hard not to offend the blonde. An empty smile appeared on Deidara's face, no doubt it was a cover-up of something that was seriously bothering him. And it also took him quite a while to respond.

"What I like best?" Deidara asked, not even looking at Sakura. Instead his sapphire eyes were locked on the window. "I like the fact that they have freedom."

**Author's Note: So... did you like this chapter? I've been trying to make them a bit longer to satisfy reviewers or just readers. So far, Sakura's uncovered two very interesting secrets of the Akatsuki: Itachi's a secret Konoha ally (or so he says), and Deidara is yearning for freedom. If readers like this story, then you might also like an upcoming fanfic of mine called **_**Pearl Princess.**_** It's not published yet because I have many fanfics already being written, but if you are interested, just PM me. Oh, and I will make Deidara a lot more in- character in the later chapters (Do you really think he would poke people???) Review please! **


End file.
